Be Careful What You Wish For
by TimeGuardian
Summary: Alan is up in Thunderbird Five performing his rotation when unexpected circumstances thrust him and his brothers into action. Movieverse.
1. Chapter 1

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter One

Alan Tracy leaned back into his chair in the main control room on Thunderbird Five and made a sweep of the panel readouts in front of him.

It was only his fourth rotation on board since he received training about their space station but everything was second nature to him now - his brother John had seen to that. The way he went over the function of each instrument in intimate detail twice over, Alan knew that John considered this place HIS territory.

So far he did his best to do his part, communicating distress calls and coordinating information between his brothers as they worked rescue scenes. It was quiet in space and though John swore by it in order to get work done, sometimes it was enough to drive Alan to distraction. _I wish something would happen up here._

It also seemed to be hotter than normal. Alan fingered the collar of his jumpsuit and got to his feet. The environmental controls for Thunderbird five were on the opposite wall of the control room, he could adjust the settings and -

A loud beeping suddenly broke his focus.

Alan turned around sharply to find that the source of the beeping was the control panel he was staring at only a few moments ago.

An amber light flashed on the panel in time to the beeping. Alan edged closer to the panel and after a quick check and verified that it was the solar activity sensor that was setting off an alarm. He quickly turned off the alarm and checked the readings. The levels that showed on the readout had him scrambling to the communication panel and - what then?

Alan had never seen levels of solar activity that high before. Could he trust what he was seeing?

He sat back down in the chair and thought about it before making the necessary adjustments and opening up a communication channel. "Thunderbird Five to John, come in please."

There was a rectangular communication screen directly above him, and Alan watched it intently as the image of his brother appeared on it. From what Alan could tell, John was in his own room, sitting at his desk.

His brother's voice held a teasing tone."John here. Don't tell me you are getting lonely up there again?"

Alan rolled his eyes. He shared many a late night conversation with his brother the first few times he was on Five. "That's not it, John. I didn't want to alarm dad without running something by you first."

His brother's expression did not change, though he did lean forward towards the screen. "What's wrong, Alan?"

"The solar activity sensors are reading a bunch of flare activity right now."

"Solar flares? Alan, I told you they weren't anything to worry about unless you're seeing level 15 activity."

Alan shook his head fiercely. "I remember what you told me, John. Based on these readings, the flare activity is at level 20."

That finally got a reaction from John. His eyes widened and he whistled appreciably. "Wow, no wonder you called me. Sit tight, Alan - I'll give Dad and Brains a heads up on the readings you have. What are the current orbital readings of Thunderbird Five?"

Alan glanced over at the navigation panel and read off the coordinates he saw. He watched as John nervously wrote them down. No doubt about it, Alan couldn't miss that his brother seemed spooked. "John - there's something you aren't telling me, is there?"

John looked back up at the screen at him, and it was nearly a minute before he replied. "Okay - truth it is: There's nothing to worry about - for the moment."

"The moment?" Alan echoed. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"You wanted the truth, didn't you?" John retorted. "With your current position up there, you are at a safe distance from the sun - if there is no flare activity."

Alan sucked in a reluctant breath. With what John crammed into his head about the setup of the station, he quickly made the unfortunate connection. "So at what level do I have to worry?"

His brother gave him a sympathetic look. "Solar flares at level 15 shouldn't reach you at all but the amount of residual heat and radiation would give the shields a workout. At level 20 you better step up your checks of the equipment to make sure there is no heat stress or failure. I need to get with Brains before we even think of course corrections for Five - one wrong move can make this situation worse on you. Even the Earth may see some environmental backlash from this if the high levels keep up. "

Alan swore as something else came to mind, causing John to blink in some surprise. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not the only one with worries, then. The Zeta 5 Space Station is also in close proximity. They changed up their orbit to rendezvous with a shuttle to get a new shipment of research materials from Australia in six hours. I told you about it last week, remember?"

John's eyes widened. "Their shields aren't as strong as ours. Those astronauts could be in trouble. How long have the readings been at level 20?"

Alan took another look at the panel in question. "About five minutes now and have continued since I contacted you. The funny thing is, John, it's a definite quick spike in the readings. When I last checked a half hour ago, the flares were only at a level 12. You don't think the sensors might be broken, do you?"

"I wish I could, Alan, but Brains came up with me during my last go round up there. He made a check of all the systems and declared them sound."

Alan glanced back at the panel that had only beeped at him moments ago before looking back at John on the video screen. "So what do I do in the meanwhile?"

"As I said before, sit tight. Keep a close eye on the solar flare levels and as a precaution, run maintenance diagnostics on the equipment like I taught you how to do. I'll get dad and Brains working on this. Don't worry Alan, we'll figure out what's going on here. John out."

Seconds later, John's image disappeared from the screen, leaving Alan alone once more. He leaned back in his chair and mopped his brow with the back of his hand, regretting his wish for something to happen.

* * *

John Tracy turned from his computer, trying to work out in his head all of the information that Alan provided.

He prided himself on keeping up with what was happening in space and on Thunderbird Five, even when he was earthbound. No doubt about it, the readings Alan told him about troubled him but maybe his brother was right - maybe there was a malfunctioning sensor on Five.

A little voice inside his head piped up - _But you don't know for sure now, do you?_

* * *

Scott Tracy was in the middle of a beautiful dream involving a clear mountain stream and the largest trout he had ever seen.

That was until the nudge that sent him hurtling towards the water.

With a gasp, Scott sat straight up in bed, now wide awake. His eyes snapped in focus only to realize that his overhead bedroom light was on and that John was standing over his bed.

With a belated grimace, he realized that it must have been a jostle from John that broke him from his dream.

Scott's voice was still heavy from sleep as he determined twenty different ways to get revenge on a brother. "Wha? What is it, John?"

"Scott, get up. We've got trouble. Do you know where dad and Brains are?"

Scott yawned, stretched, and tried to keep the irritation out of his voice. "John, dad left on a last minute business trip and took Brains with him. They're supposed to be back in forty-eight hours. You would have known that too if you weren't knee deep in that article you are writing for that scientific journal."

He watched as John rolled his eyes. "Then we'll have to make do then. I'll meet you downstairs at the command and control center in ten minutes."

Before Scott could ask any more questions, John disappeared through the bedroom door, leaving him alone once more.

With a muttered curse, Scott shifted over to the side of the bed and grabbed for his uniform that he had cast off earlier, all the while wondering what could have happened.

By the time Scott dressed and made his way downstairs to his dad's office, he found that John had also roused Gordon and Virgil. Judging by their expressions, their awakening was as abrupt as his was. They stood behind John, who was sitting at the activated command and control center.

He walked closer and found that Alan was showing on the main communication screen of the center. "Okay, John, care to tell me why you got us all out of bed?"

As a reply, John looked to the communication screen. "Alan? Care to tell them what you told me? We are going to need all of the help we can get."

Scott stood at attention as he listened to his brother relate the information about the readings he encountered and what that meant to them. When Alan was done, Scott wheeled on John. "We need to act upon this information right away as well as update dad and Brains."

John spoke up from his seat. "We need more information first. Alan, did you run that maintenance diagnostic I asked you to perform?"

They watched as Alan looked down at his controls. "Yeah, and nothing. Nada - all sensors are reading green. Something weird did show up near the sun when I ran scans in that area though...astero...mag...interferenc..."

The brothers watched in horror as the video feed showing Alan began to break up and distort until it disappeared all together from the screen.

Scott glared at John. "What happened? Can you get him back?"

John focused on the computer systems in front of him and ran a few commands before looking up in frustration. "Nothing doing, Scott. Whatever interference Alan was referring to is also affecting our satellite communications. I'm also starting to see reports come through reporting communications across the globe are being disrupted as well."

Virgil voiced the fear that was on all of their minds. "So, what you're saying is Alan is cut off from us."

* * *

_Hi again – it has definitely been a while. This idea is one chapter old, but I promise to try and make this worth your wait if you stick around. Arthritis has slowed me down but it can't stop me. I'll post my next chapter as soon as I can._

_Till next time,_

_TimeGuardian_


	2. Chapter 2

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Two

Alan looked at the dark communication screen in frustration and fear. Based on the scans he made with the sensors, he knew what was going on around the sun – a large group of asteroids that made their way into the area were colliding with the sun and the flares came as a reaction to the collisions. Despite the scans he made, they didn't reveal what the asteroids were made of, only that there was a huge cluster of them - which meant the spike in solar flares was far from over.

Alan was working on those calculations when John contacted him back to let him know that dad and Brains were out. He wanted Alan to tell what he discovered to Gordon, Scott, and Virgil.

He looked over the communication panel and tried every setting that he could think of that John showed him.

Static and snow greeted his every effort.

Growling in frustration, Alan got to his feet and mopped his brow again. Since focusing on the flare readings, he had left the environmental settings alone. _Better try and cool it down in here._

He slowly walked over to the opposite wall and quickly accessed the environmental system. Thankfully, it still seemed responsive so Alan used the environmental control interface and tapped in a ten degree reduction in temperature. As the system quickly complied, Alan turned back towards the main controls and the main view window to the outside.

Space loomed outside in shades of a black and stardust landscape with the Earth looking like an oversized marble right in the middle of it. His view of the sun was currently blocked partly by the shape of Thunderbird Five along with the Earth itself.

When he started his rotations up here, Alan remembered back to the only time that Five had ever been under direct attack - it had nearly cost John his life.

_And still he came back up here time and again. I still don't see how he did it._

Alan closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe even out. He was a member of International Rescue first and foremost and he wasn't the only one at risk from this.

Still, his brothers who needed this information to take action with were currently cut off from him. Hell, he would have even loved to hear from his dad about now.

_I need to do what I can and that means finding out more about this danger._

Decision made, Alan stalked back to his chair and sat down, returning his focus to the sensors.

* * *

John looked down at the command and control center in frustration. On one monitor that displayed web traffic, he could already see the fractured reports flooding in about the disruption in communications across the Earth. He turned back to the communication controls and tried for the fifth time to raise Thunderbird Five.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, then Scott's voice. "John, stop it. We need to focus."

John rotated the chair around to face him. "You have an irritating way of being calm in the face of potential chaos."

Gordon scoffed. "Duh, why do you think dad made him field commander?"

Despite the situation, John smiled at the comment. "Duly noted - I only wish that we had the rest of Alan's message - it sounds like he had the cause of the solar flares pinned down."

Virgil nodded in agreement. "I remember the last part - it sounded like he said 'electromagnetic interference.'"

"Solar flares have been known to do that anyway," Scott stated. "With the levels that Alan saw - on that scale -"

"I know," John interrupted, "potential chaos. We're talking GPS disruptions, control towers unable to direct planes - there's even the Zeta 5 space station out there. They are maneuvering into a close orbit to receive a supply run. Their equipment is nowhere on par with what we have on Thunderbird Five."

"Then they are potentially in immediate danger then with the heat and radiation," Scott reasoned. "Can't you get any communications up there?"

John turned back to the command and control center and sighed. "Not without a lot of work. Right now even if we tried, we would be lucky to only get a few words out. That also strikes the idea of us checking on the Zeta 5 space station as well."

Gordon mused. "The question is, can anything down here on Earth check on the situation up there?"

Scott nodded. "Possibly. NASA was making some advances in telescopes and scanning technologies when I visited an old friend there a few months back. In fact, that's where dad and Brains headed off to. One of the scientists there wanted to enter into a contract with Brains for some mutual research."

"Whatever we decide on, we better make it fast," Virgil declared.

John looked up at the blank communication screen. He was worried about Alan - if the flares continued in their intensity, the Zeta 5 space station wouldn't be the only one to fail. "Time is not on our side, but I have an idea. What we need is access to a land line."

Virgil stared at him for a moment before finally catching on. "Good thinking, land lines are not so reliant on satellites. We may be able to get a message through – but to where?"

Scott looked between the two of them before gazing at John. "I think I know. I'll get in the air right away. Meanwhile, you three try and figure out a way to get a message to Alan and Space station Zeta 5."

John watched as Scott walked quickly out of the room.

He turned back to the command and control center.

"John? How can we help?"

Virgil's question was an innocent one. John just wished he had a ready answer.

* * *

Six more hours.

Alan double checked and triple checked his calculations but the evidence was there on his readouts. With the amount of asteroids in the vicinity of the sun and assuming that they all would eventually orbit into a collision course with the sun - that meant he would have to ride out the heat, radiation, and interference for another six hours. And though John did not mention the possibility, Alan feared that the flares could get strong enough to strike Thunderbird Five directly.

Even if he could get the message to his brothers, there wasn't enough time for them to get up here to stop the asteroids, assuming that Thunderbird Three could endure being around the sun long enough to neutralize the threat.

One of John's old admonishments came to mind: _Never assume – it makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'_.

Alan laughed. It felt good to laugh for the moment, because what else was there?

A burst of static sounded through the room, making Alan jerk around sharply. The noise came from the communication panel. Maybe his brothers found a way to get to him, maybe –

The next transmission from the panel dashed those hopes. "If…can hear…Zeta 5…shields fail…help…"

_Oh no.  
_

* * *

_The problems just keep stacking for the Tracy brothers. Thanks for the interest, you guys, I'm going to find a big rock to hide behind as I work on the next chapter._

_Till next time,_

_TimeGuardian_


	3. Chapter 3

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Three

"If…can hear…Zeta 5…shields fail…help…"

The voice that came through the communication speakers of Thunderbird Five was a familiar one. While monitoring global communication traffic last week, he picked up on a transmission from the Zeta 5 space station making the arrangements for the shuttle rendezvous from Earth. This was one of the lead astronauts at that station trying to raise an alarm.

But what could he say to them? He was in similar circumstances himself. Still, this was the first burst of communication he was able to get at all since the solar flare activity kicked up and his brief but aborted conversation with his brothers.

Alan focused on the communication controls and set to work.

* * *

Jeff Tracy did his best to stifle a yawn but failed miserably. He hated early morning meetings with a passion. However, when Brains came to him hours ago with a proposal for a joint research project on metal treatments, Jeff decided that the opportunity was too good to pass up and they made the quick journey to Florida to meet up with Brains' contact, Professor Millington.

By the time they reached Professor Millington's NASA laboratory, the sun was just clearing the rooftops around them. The old man in the lab coat that greeted them once they entered the lab building was truly animated, escorting them into his personal lab near the back of the building and moving around quickly to gather two chairs near an old style whiteboard positioned in the center of his lab. He then beckoned them to sit down.

They took their seats and Jeff watched as Brains sat at rapt attention as they watched the gray haired man – Professor Millington – move around them excitedly, explaining his ideas.

"Hackenbacker, old friend, I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to join me here today. When I told you about that compound that I put together last week, I had no idea what I had until today. When I applied it to the strongest metal we had in NASA, what do you think happened? It allowed the metal to become as flexible as a plastic sheet while allowing it to retain its strength and durability. Do you know what this means? We can craft ships and spacesuits that will allow us break out of this galaxy we are in and – excuse me for a moment."

Jeff looked up as a man dressed in a security guard uniform approached them, speaking quickly. "Please excuse the interruption, Professor Millington. Mister Tracy? The Director wanted me to come retrieve you. You have a call on one of our reserve landlines. The caller asked us to mention 'code 99.'"

Brains nudged him and whispered, "T-Trouble."

Jeff swallowed hard and stood up. When he finalized the communication protocols for International Rescue, he made some hard decisions on how much information to keep secret and who to include in his circle of trust. Thankfully, the Director of NASA was one of those people - that much didn't trouble him.

The Code 99, a distress code his sons were to use if they were in major trouble, was enough to make him pick up his pace, sticking close behind the guard as they exited the lab and quickly navigated through the maze of hallways before they ended up exiting the building.

After taking a sharp turn down an adjoining sidewalk, Jeff realized that the guard was leading him directly to the main administration office building. "Are we going to the Director's office?"

"Yes sir, his orders specifically," the guard replied as they reached the door to the building.

When he was still working with NASA, Jeff worked and was friends with Major Frank Nelson. While he finished out his career and moved on to form International Rescue, Frank moved up in the ranks to take the Director position for NASA. Now ten years later, Frank's twenty year old son Tony took over as Director, making him the youngest Director that NASA ever had on record.

They entered the administration building. Jeff remembered the route by heart, but allowed the guard to take the lead, escorting him down a main hallway until they got to a corner office on the left side. When they reached the doorway of the office, the guard motioned him in. "The Director is on the phone now but he wanted you to go on inside."

"Thanks."

As the guard turned and walked away, Jeff stepped inside the office. Not much had changed since his last visit here – pale grey carpet lined the floor with well worn paths where people had been in and out. The walls were of a shade of industrial white that would have been painful to the eyes if not for the soft lighting overhead.

There were two black guest chairs placed in front of a glass and steel desk, behind which sat NASA Director Tony Nelson. Tony had the same sharp nose and brown eyes and hair like his father, but ended up outdistancing his father by growing up to be nearly six feet four inches tall.

Tony leaned back in his chair, his attention focused on what Jeff recognized as an old style telephone with a push button keypad. With a wry smile, Jeff could recall many a time he walked into this same office to find Frank in intense conversations on the same phone. When NASA later rolled out the video phones to their staff, his friend bitterly complained that it just wasn't the same.

Jeff watched intently as the younger man stood up, receiver to his ear and speaking quickly, "We'll have to get together again over drinks and blind dates, Scott – hey a lot can happen in six months - and finally here is the man of the hour."

Tony moved aside to let Jeff sit in his chair and handed him the receiver. "Scott is being blessedly vague, even for him."

As Tony took a seat in one of the black guest chairs, Jeff put the old style phone receiver to his ear and asked the question that weighed heavily on his mind. "Scott, what's going on?"

He listened with growing dread as his oldest son explained the situation. When Scott finished, Jeff's mind was whirling madly with the information. _Solar flares – no contact with Thunderbird Five – Alan's in danger. _

He struggled to keep his composure as he relayed orders to Scott. "Thanks for letting me know and I will do what I can here to find out what is going on up there. Get home ASAP and get Three launched – I'll find a way to get in touch with you somehow. Take care, son, and be careful."

"Trouble, Jeff?"

He rubbed a weary hand against his face as he handed the phone receiver back to Tony. "You could say that – have your people seen an increase in solar flare activity?"

The Director's eyes widened before he gave Jeff a critical stare. "How did you – wait, scratch that question, I know your sources. I was reading the reported updates just before Scott called. Most of our sensors are spiking like mad and satellite communications are either at a slowdown or a standstill – what few sensors left that actually make sense show solar flare levels that we haven't seen since the firestorm of 2017. Internet and email traffic are in a similar fix, or so I've heard. We also fear for a space station that the Aussies have up there. In fact, we lost contact with them soon after this mess started."

"We've lost touch with ours as well."

"My God - Jeff, I'm sorry-"

Jeff held up a hand. "It's all right – in fact it is I who should be grateful. Without your landlines here, Scott wouldn't have been able to reach me with the situation."

Tony grinned as he put the phone receiver back in the cradle. "You know, I got a lot of flak from the budget committee last year for advocating the retention of our landlines. 'Our satellite communications are reliable – landlines cost too much money' they said. During their next session I'll be extremely happy to let those stuffed shirts know that an older technology saved the day along with telling them where they can stick their 'cost cutting improvements.'"

Jeff snorted in laughter. "You're like your father in every way – he couldn't stand bureaucrats either. Now getting back to the matter at hand: I recall that some of your scientists here were recently experimenting with earthbound telescopes that might be able to cut through this type of trouble?"

"Yep," Tony replied as he got to his feet. "In fact, I ordered them to start looking towards the sun about a half hour ago when things started going crazy. Want to come with me? We can stop off at Professor Millington's lab and get Brains as well."

"Let's go then, Tony. There's no time to lose."

* * *

_The choice of Nelson for a NASA type name was unintentional but I decided to leave it in – seemed fitting somehow. The old professor? Would you believe I based him off of an old college mathematics professor I met in my apartment's community laundry room? It made the time and the loads pass by, that's for sure. :p_

_Till next time,_

_TimeGuardian_


	4. Chapter 4

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Four

Once he landed back on Tracy Island, Scott powered down Thunderbird One and quickly went through his post-flight checks.

It took nearly an hour of flight time to find a secure landline and that was only after he called in a few favors with some friends that he knew that were still in the Air Force. Scott felt better after talking with dad and giving him the full story. Having NASA resources at their disposal didn't hurt either.

Scott was tired and hungry but he moved with a sense of purpose as he made his way through the hanger and into the lift that would take him back to dad's study and the command and control center.

Once the lift door opened, Scott stepped out to find that John was still seated at the command and control center. Gordon and Virgil were standing behind John.

When their eyes met his, Scott explained. "I was able to get in touch with dad. He wants Thunderbird Three launched right away."

John stretched and stood up. "I'm going with you. The computer systems in Three will allow me to continue working on the communication problem."

Virgil spoke up. "And you will need all of us considering we have Zeta 5 space station to check on as well."

Scott smiled grimly. "Okay then, meet me in the Thunderbird Three hangar in ten minutes. I'm going to grab a quick snack from the kitchen."

* * *

Alan was determined to get through to the Zeta 5 space station.

_Okay, flip this switch and enter a code on this panel. Let's try this again_…

He spoke quickly into the microphone on the communication panel. "Zeta 5, this is International Rescue, do you read me?"

"Int…re…can't…"

He tried every communication tweak he could remember John teaching him. Alan even tried improvising a few setting combinations. Each reply from the Zeta 5 space station came through just as garbled as the first.

Alan slammed his fist against the panel and sighed. Some Thunderbird he was – he couldn't even help himself out of this mess.

He then realized that the temperature of the control room was warmer again – warmer than when he made the earlier adjustment to the environmental system.

Alan got out of his chair and walked back over to the environmental panel. He quickly typed in a fifteen degree reduction in temperature.

Instead of complying with his request, the panel buzzed an angry noise and flashed a red alert. The words "General Failure" also flashed brightly at the top of the panel. What John warned him about was coming true – systems were beginning to fail.

He turned around in frustration as he clawed at the zipper of his jumpsuit, managing to open it a few inches. At this point any relief was better than none.

The communication panel came to life again with Zeta 5's attempt to transmit. "Int…re…can…"

The overhead lights in the control room then flickered and flashed for a few seconds before shutting off, leaving only two emergency lights on over the main control panels.

Alan stalked back over to his chair and sat down, head in his hands. What he needed was time to think, but he was afraid that time was the one thing he didn't have.

* * *

The launch of Thunderbird Three was normal by their standards, but John was too preoccupied to notice. He was sure that he had the proper plan of attack to counter the interference and he was eager to get to work on it.

It was a few hours after launch when he moved to unlatch himself from the seat and nudged Gordon. "I have an idea on how to get past this interference. Want to come with?"

As Gordon moved to free himself from his seat, Scott turned around from his position in the pilot's seat. "When you figure it out, get a message to dad and Brains as well."

"FAB."

Gordon followed John as they moved through the main door and into the main corridor of Three. "I figured we would hit up the computer room on board, but what's the plan?"

"Remember when I showed you some of those communication methods that I was toying with back when Thunderbird Five was initially deployed?" John asked.

Gordon gave him a puzzled look. "Sure…I think."

John motioned towards the computer room. "Come on. I'll need your help with the settings."

* * *

John started explaining the concept of his plan to Gordon as they entered the computer room of Thunderbird Three. By the time they sat down in front of the communications section of the computer room, Gordon was truly curious. "Compressing the sound waves, John? This will punch through the interference?"

"Yeah, if it is done at the proper frequency, it gets a message that's five minutes long down to a mere few seconds. To the untrained ear it sounds like beeps and static, but with Brains help I had a routine programmed into Five's communication system to recognize and translate it immediately."

"When did you get a chance to show Alan this?"

"When he did his first rotation with me – in fact the first night Alan was up there, he was so excited he couldn't sleep, so we dived right into the communication systems and the types of communications they would recognize."

Gordon smiled. "Sounds like an egg head sleepover for sure."

He stopped smiling when he realized that John was simply staring at the equipment and not moving. "John, don't do this – he knew the risks going up there. We all do. You've taught him well. Heck, remember near the beginning of the year when that scientific outpost was under threat from that active volcano? The only communication device of theirs that hadn't been destroyed by lava was an old school Morse code generator they had stored in their emergency provisions and that's what they used to call for help. Thanks to you Alan recognized the code, deciphered it, and got us there in time to get those scientists to safety."

John gave Gordon a knowing look before beginning his work. "I remember the incident well, and you're right. The last thing I need to be doing is underestimating Alan's abilities. Now let me show you what I need you to do."

He spent the next few minutes typing in commands to the computer interface while he pointed out switches and keys that he wanted Gordon to work with.

Finally the system was ready to make an attempt for contact but John was still apprehensive. Everything was riding on Alan remembering a twenty minute conversation back at the beginning of his training three rotations ago. _Here goes – Alan, I hope you're listening…_

John pressed a button on the communication panel and spoke quickly. "Thunderbird Five from Thunderbird Three, come in please."

A minute passed, and then another. No noise came from their communication panel. Gordon shot him a worried glance. "How long do we have to wait?"

"If he recognizes the way we've sent the message, it'll only take Alan a minute or two more before he adjusts for the method and transmits a reply back to us. Thanks to your help, I've got our communication systems here on Three to where it will recognize the style and modify it to where we can listen to it right away. "

John and Gordon sat back in their chairs. Neither of them said a word as they watched, waited, and hoped.

* * *

_Note: I've taken liberties with the structure of Thunderbird Three since we didn't see much in the movie version, along with fabricating a plausible communication method to get them through this crisis. Hopefully I was creative enough for it to be believable, but as always I will let you guys judge that. _

_More to come after I have a very stern conversation with my arthritis - Ow._

_Till next time,_

_TimeGuardian _


	5. Chapter 5

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Five

While he was thinking about his situation, Alan came up with the idea to check the internal water systems that routed water to the shower, bathroom and cooling systems for the station. Those seemed to be intact and functional so Alan shed his clothes, jumped into the shower, and set the water as cool as the system would give it. In the end the water that came out of the shower was lukewarm, but felt wonderful on his body compared to the internal temperatures of Thunderbird Five.

After getting out of the shower and toweling off, Alan felt better and his thoughts seemed to come easier. He got back into his clothes and rushed back to the control room, eager to tackle the problems now that he was able to focus.

As Alan reentered the control room, he picked up on noises coming from the communication panel. This didn't sound like Zeta 5 trying to communicate – on a hunch, he ran over to the panel just in time to hear John's voice call out "-come in please."

Yes!

Alan sat down quickly and took a look at the communication panel. Something must have changed for John's transmission to come through. The six hours that he had calculated for the asteroid strikes were long gone but when he took a glance over at the solar activity indicator, it was reading flare activity at level 18. _How could that be? _

He turned back to his main focus. John must have figured something out in order to get a message to him, but what? Over the course of Thunderbird Five's development, Alan knew that John became very proficient with communications after working with Brains and dad to develop and launch the station. If there was a different way needed to get the job done, his brother would know it easily.

Alan thought back to the first rotation he spent on Five with John. There was the tour, John showed him every system and then later when they were supposed to be sleeping he – that's it!

The memory came to him in a flash and he looked over the communication panel with new eyes. _Think, Alan, think! John and Brains programmed this way differently, I just have to remember how._

Taking a deep breath, Alan from memory carefully made setting change after setting change. It took nearly two minutes and after he finished the panel didn't look any different than before. It was too much to ask for an automatic confirmation of his work, but there was one other way to find out.

Alan moved to the microphone on the communication panel and spoke. "John, this is Thunderbird Five. Do you read me?"

He was overjoyed and a little shocked to hear a loud whoop issue from the panel before hearing John's voice again. "This is John and that sound you heard was Gordon. We are on Thunderbird Three on route to you now and I have to say that it is good to hear your voice again."

Relief coursed through Alan. "Likewise, John – I was getting a little stir crazy up here talking to myself."

He heard Gordon snicker. "And that's different how- OW, JOHN!"

Alan laughed. "I think John was trying to tell you to focus but thanks for the laugh, Gordon."

"You're welcome," Gordon muttered. "So, we do have a lot of catching up to go through. John mentioned the Zeta 5 station – have you heard from them?"

Alan looked out the view window of Five. "They've been trying to send out a distress call, but it is coming through to me broken up – considering the circumstances they are probably not reaching anyone on the ground. I tried getting a communication to them and they can't get it either. From what little I did manage to get from their fragmented message, their shields are failing."

"That's what I was afraid of," John replied. "How are the systems there on Thunderbird Five?"

Alan explained to him about the environmental and light systems before adding. "I haven't had a chance to check the condition of the solar sensors again, but they are reading the flare activity at a level 18. What I was trying to tell you guys when the interference initially hit was that I picked up on a wave of asteroids hitting the sun and causing those flares. By the initial readings and my calculations though, they should have already calmed down by now."

"That doesn't sound good," John declared. "Listen, Scott and Virgil are with us as well. I think we are where we can do some scans of our own and now that we know how to get around this interference, we'll get a message back to dad and Brains. They're at NASA waiting for an update from us. In the meanwhile keep hydrated, keep checking the systems, and keep your physical movements down to a minimum – the less heat you generate on your own, the better."

Trust his brother to get directly to the point. Alan sighed. "I will. I think I'll also reroute some power from the lower priority systems and see if that can help boost up what I have."

"Good idea," John replied. "Keep an ear out for us, little brother, we'll be in touch soon. John out."

* * *

In Thunderbird Three's computer room, John turned from the communication panel and looked at Gordon. "Well, at least we know Alan is safe for the moment, but I don't like those readings he told us about."

"Not to mention the heat," Gordon stated. "Good idea reminding him to hydrate – if those temps on board get any higher-"

"Please don't finish that sentence," John cut him off. He then turned back to the panel and hit a button before speaking again. "Control room, this is John, did you get the whole conversation?"

Virgil's voice came through first. "We did. I'll start on the scans of the area around the sun."

"It's time to get dad on the line," Scott reminded him.

"FAB," John acknowledged.

John then focused on working with the panel once more, having Gordon make one or two minor changes to his setup.

Before he could make a communication attempt to their dad, Virgil buzzed back through the panel. "It took me a minute or two of tweaking the sensors, but I managed to get some preliminary readings from around the sun."

The nervous tone of their brother's voice was enough to set Gordon on edge. "Out with it, Virgil. Something's wrong, isn't there?"

Virgil explained. "You don't know the half of it. I picked up on debris from the earlier solar flare activity, but then I saw something else. Wherever those initial asteroids came from, they weren't alone. Another wave of asteroids is in orbit and has started bombarding the sun. Based on the readings and our calculations, we expect to see another ten hours of solar flare activity."

Gordon looked over at John. "Alan and the Zeta 5 astronauts don't have that long, do they?"

John glared at him before turning back to the panel and making his transmission. "Calling NASA in Florida, this is an emergency transmission from International Rescue. If anyone can hear me, please respond."

* * *

_I shall find a big rock and hide behind it now. ;)_

_I'm also tempted to write arthritis in as a villain one of these days and have the Thunderbirds kick its butt. Ah, wishful thinking, I suppose._

_More soon,_

_TimeGuardian_


	6. Chapter 6

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Six

Tony led Jeff back to Professor Millington's lab where they then picked up Brains. As they followed Tony to their new destination, Jeff was trying to figure out a way to get a communication to his sons like he promised. With the satellite communication affected by the solar flare activity he couldn't see an immediate solution, but when he quickly briefed Brains while they were following Tony, Brains simply nodded and stated that he knew what to do.

He was jarred from his thoughts when Tony declared. "We're here."

Jeff looked up in some surprise. Tony led them to an area of NASA that was new to him. In front of him was a winding path leading up a gradual incline until it ended in a flattened top. At the top was what looked like an observatory on steroids – instead of one telescope jutting out of the building, there was two, and the building itself seemed to be made of a grey plastic material. Green grass and small shrubs encompassed what was left exposed on the ground.

"You've been busy since I've seen this place last," Jeff declared. "This area wasn't even owned by NASA at one point."

Tony chuckled. "Never underestimate the power of generous donators. The land was given to the government on the provision that it would be given to us to use. We made use of recyclable materials to build up the hill, cover it in shredded old tires and earth, and voila, instant perfect place for an experimental observatory. Given the weather patterns around here, we found a builder dealing with hurricane proof materials, and here we are."

Jeff was impressed. "Indeed."

Tony led them up the path until they reached the main door of the building. He opened it and allowed Jeff and Brains to go in first.

The lobby area of the building was simply decorated with a grey stone floor flecked with splashes of white. The walls were eggshell white but had been treated with a paint treatment that gave them a soft texture. Artwork depicting past space missions lined the walls.

"I'm pretty sure a few missions dad and you were on are on these walls," Tony declared. "Follow me - we need the last set of doors on the right."

Jeff and Brains followed him to end of the lobby and entered in through the doors that he pointed out.

The room they entered was into was immense and semi-circular in shape. Near the center sat one of the telescopes in question, with scientist at the controls looking through the lens. Two large windows on the outer wall allowed sunlight in, and two rows of computer stations were situated just behind the telescope.

A handful of people were manning the stations in question. One man who noticed their entrance, stood up immediately. Dressed in blue jeans and a black polo shirt, the red-haired man approached them quickly. "Director Nelson, we've focused our efforts around the area of the sun as you asked us to, but we've also picked up on a new transmission that sounds more like interference."

Tony looked at him and ordered. "Show us what you mean."

The man motioned them over to the nearest computer station, where a woman sat listening intently to audio coming from her computer. "Joan, turn the volume up and let the Director hear what you've discovered."

"Yes sir."

Jeff listened as Joan tuned the volume up on the audio. Beeps and static came through the speakers in a repeated pattern. Something about them seemed familiar to him.

Brains leaned towards him and spoke quietly. "I-I recognize t-that n-n-noise. I-It's John trying to reach us."

Jeff knew better than to be surprised. He turned to Tony. "Can you get us a dedicated connection to that communication without too much attention?"

The Director glanced over at the last computer station in the last row. "I usually work over at that station whenever I come to visit these guys, and it's about as secure as it gets. Joan, could you please route that transmission to the last computer station in the back row?"

"Right away, Director."

They watched as she typed in a few commands into the computer before she looked back up at them. "I've routed the transmission to the station as you asked."

"Thank you," Tony replied before motioning to Jeff and Brains. "Come on."

When they reached the last computer in the second row, there was no one immediately around them. Tony sat down in front of the computer for a moment to type in his credentials and then stood up. "It's all yours. Do what you need to do – I'm going to check with the scientist at the telescope and see if they made any progress."

When he walked away, Brains sat down and immediately set to work.

Jeff watched in silence as his friend blazed through the NASA communication programs and made setting changes, including adding a line of computer code or two. Finally Brains looked up at him. "I-it's ready."

Brains got up to allow Jeff to sit down. The audio feed from the communication program filtered through the computer speakers.

"Calling NASA in Florida, this is an emergency transmission from International Rescue. If anyone can hear me, please respond."

It was John's voice all right. Jeff spoke quickly into a microphone that was positioned beside the computer. "International Rescue, this is NASA, receiving you loud and clear."

It took a moment for an astonished John to reply. "Dad?!"

Jeff laughed. "Yes. Luckily I brought Brains along on this trip - else wise we still would have been interpreting your transmission. It's good to hear to hear your voice, John – now bring me up to speed."

He listened intently as John explained their conversation with Alan, along with the scans they had made of the area around the sun.

That was also when he noticed Brains had walked over to the telescope and looked to be in a three way conversation with Tony and the scientist that was manning the telescope.

When John finished his report, Jeff asked him to bring Alan into the conversation. As he waited for John to do so, Tony and Brains came back over to him hurriedly – using the telescope, they spotted the new wave of asteroids near the sun and confirmed what John had told him.

A moment later, he heard John's voice again. "Dad, I've got Alan - Alan, we managed to get a hold of dad – and we have news."

Jeff could hear a slight hitch in Alan's voice as it came through the speakers. "It's not good, is it?"

He decided to be the one to tell Alan the news. "Son, A NASA telescope here managed to get a good read of the area around the sun and your brothers were able to confirm it as well: There's another wave of asteroids heading towards the sun and that means there will be more solar flare activity for the next few hours."

Frustration marred Alan's voice. "What do we do, then? The Zeta 5 space station cannot last much more than this. Their last communication I managed to make out indicated that their shields were failing."

Brains, who was listening to their exchange, spoke up. "I-I have an idea, b-but it's d-dan-risky."

Jeff turned to him sharply. "What do you suggest?"

"If Alan can m-m-maneuver Thunderbird Five into a corresponding orbit as the other s-s-space s-station, there is a way to e-extend the s-s-shields so both s-s-stations will be protected. Tony gave me Zeta 5's coordinates and I can w-w-walk Alan through the necessary c-c-changes."

He could tell that there was more to this explanation. "What's the risk, Brains?"

Brains cast his eyes back to the computer. "J-Jeff-"

He knew that he wasn't going to like the answer, but still Jeff pressed. "Brains-"

"G-g-given the amount of d-d-damage already d-d-done, it may hasten s-s-system failures on Thunderbird Five. Before you ask, I took a look at the s-specs that Tony allowed me to s-s-see for Zeta 5 – they need help now, Jeff," Brains reluctantly explained.

"Let's do this, then," Alan's voice declared through the speakers.

All Jeff could see was Brains scenario and too many 'what if' questions that had the potential to turn out badly. "Alan-"

Alan cut him off heatedly. "Dad, we have no time to think about this. Put Brains on and let us get to work. I can buy John and the others enough time to destroy those asteroids with the laser cutting systems on Thunderbird Three."

Whatever argument Jeff was ready to make died on his lips. His thoughts were torn between pride, irritation, and worry. "Okay, son, take care and good luck. I'll talk to you soon."

"Thanks, dad."

Brooding, Jeff stood up and walked over to one of the large windows overlooking the main part of the NASA complex. So much had changed over the years and yet it never got any easier – the rescues, the danger, the risk, and the worry. It was his belief in his boys and their talents that helped him keep it all in check.

Moments later he heard someone walk up beside him and turned to find that Tony had come over to him. The younger man gave Jeff a look of sympathy and understanding. "You've got an amazing family, Jeff."

Jeff turned back to look out the window with a small smile of pride on his face. "That I do."

* * *

_Don't get too used to the quick updates…my muse has actually browbeat my arthritis down for the moment – I'm just taking advantage while it lasts. :p_

_More soon,_

_TimeGuardian_


	7. Chapter 7

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Seven

Gordon Tracy sat back in his chair in Thunderbird Three's computer room in amazement. John had already left to go back to the main control room, which left him and Alan to make preliminary arrangements with Brains as to their plan to counter the solar flares.

After Brains left the conversation to check on some calculations, Gordon decided to ask Alan a question. "Alan, you do know that you just risked incurring the wrath of dad with that earlier conversation?"

He thought he heard a loud sigh come over the communication link before he finally heard his brother's voice reply with a question. "Gordon, according to Virgil's calculations, he said there's about ten hours more of solar flares, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"And what would be your current ETA if you were still heading towards Thunderbird Five?"

Gordon thought about it a moment before realizing what his brother meant – they were still more than ten hours away from Thunderbird Five and Zeta 5. "I hate it when you make sense, but you heard dad – he expects to talk to you later. I need to join John and the others in the control room. Stay safe, little brother."

"You guys take care too. Thunderbird Three's part in this is not exactly a cakewalk."

Gordon thought back to the earlier conversations that Brains had with all of them. "Let's just say that we all have a lot of work to do. Gordon out."

* * *

At Tony's request, Jeff followed him back to the administration building and into a meeting room. There, he recognized a few people from the lab that he had seen earlier along with a few people he had not met before seated at a large oval shaped table in the middle of the room.

Jeff took a seat in one corner as he watched Tony remain standing close to the meeting table before beginning to pace slowly around the perimeter of the room.

Tony got to the point quickly. "You all know why we are here – we need a plan of action about these solar flares. So what are we looking at?"

One of the people who had come from the observatory lab spoke up. "As long as those asteroid collisions continue, the disturbances will be enough to encourage solar flare activity. We've been extremely lucky so far from an environmental standpoint, satellite transmissions are another matter. We also have one space station in the area, Zeta 5, that we have lost contact with. The Australians have cancelled their supply ship launch and are unable to contact the station either. With the level of flare activity up there, there are concerns that the three astronauts on the station will not be able to survive the expected duration of the solar flares."

Tony stopped in his tracks and cast a look to everyone at the table. "Options?"

It was a simple question but it took nearly a minute before one of the newer people spoke up. "We can have a laser system setup and engaged from Cape Canaveral that should be able to pulverize the asteroids before they collide with the sun. That system would need to be calibrated like we've done for the telescope in the observatory lab."

Jeff watched in interest as Tony zeroed in on this new speaker. "How long?"

Again it was nearly minute before the same person spoke up. "Sir-"

Tony's voice came like a whip crack. "I asked how long?"

The reply was immediate. "Forty-eight to fifty-six hours. Director Nelson, you have to understand it took us twice that long to get the telescope configured in the first place and-"

"Not good enough. There are astronauts up there who need relief. You heard it already in here – the Zeta 5 astronauts not expected to survive this latest onslaught. Now find a way to cut the time down," Tony ordered.

There was a unanimous 'Yes sir' from the people at the table before they got to their feet and left the room.

Tony walked over to where Jeff was sitting and sighed. "We'll do what we can. To think, my biggest problem this morning was that I forgot to pack my lunch. So, I heard some of what Brains was saying along with the idea of using Thunderbird Three – does she have the laser cutting power needed to get at those asteroids?"

"Considering the circumstances, Brains seems to think so – when we left to come here to this meeting, he was still knee deep in calculations and conversations with my boys. He thinks that we would be ready to make an attempt in three hours. As they make the final adjustments in Thunderbird Three, Brains is going to help Alan get Thunderbird Five maneuvered to help out Zeta 5 by sharing shields," Jeff stated before getting to his feet to follow Tony.

Tony stopped and turned to look at him. "That's better than what we have here, for the moment. I'm still going to push my people. I would rather have a backup plan and avoid another firestorm, but you heard them in there - the possibility of getting a laser targeted in the right place coming from Earth is a thin one given the timeframe."

Jeff put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Your father would have been proud of you."

Tony grinned. "Thanks. I'm going to stop off in my office and have lunch ordered in for everyone in the observatory lab before heading back. You want anything?"

"No – I think I will go on back and see how Brains is making out with the plans. I'll see you there."

* * *

Alan mopped his brow again for what had to be the twentieth time in an hour before taking another huge gulp of water from the bottle he had beside him. Luckily the water tanks on board Thunderbird Five had plenty of water to drink but due to the on board temperatures, Alan realized that he was sweating it out almost as quickly as he was taking it in.

Brains allowed him enough time to go take another shower earlier, and Alan took advantage of it gratefully. Now he was waiting on the scientist to contact him back to start the course changes and shield modifications.

His thoughts weren't coming as easy as before, and it took Alan more than a moment to tamp down a nagging fear in the back of his mind.

He remembered when he was home for summer vacation one year when his family rushed home from a particularly torturous rescue. There had been a nasty chemical plant fire in Mexico and between the weather-induced summer heat along with the heat from the fire, temperatures were intense. They were able to save the twenty plant workers from the blaze, but near the end of the rescue Scott had collapsed.

To hear his father tell the story the cause was heat stroke, but Alan couldn't ever remember seeing his brother so ill. It took a two day hospital stay plus another two days at home before Scott was well enough to go back on rescues.

Suddenly, Alan heard the transmission from the communication panel that he had been waiting on. "Brains to Thunderbird Five, c-come in."

_Showtime._

"This is Thunderbird Five, go ahead Brains," Alan acknowledged.

"A-Alan, are you r-r-ready?"

Alan looked around at the control room of Thunderbird Five. A lot was riding on what would happen in the next few hours and he was determined not to give in to the heat.

He replied quickly. "Let's do this."

* * *

_Plans are coming together. See how next time._

_Till next time,_

_TimeGuardian_


	8. Chapter 8

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Eight

Brains Hackenbacker was in his element. Plans, numbers, and calculations whirled in his mind as he sat in front of the NASA computer workstation that he had initially used to help Jeff contact his sons.

He leaned back in his chair after spending nearly an hour detailing to John and Gordon what he needed from Thunderbird Three before it could even attempt to destroy the asteroids near the sun.

When Brains initially helped Jeff design the laser cutting systems on Thunderbird Three, the intention was for making repairs to Thunderbird Five along with rescue work. Without knowing the composition of the asteroids, he knew that a lot going into the changes to the lasers would be guesswork – it couldn't be helped in a way, but Scott and Virgil promised to update him if they got any additional information on the asteroids.

What he had in mind would have to work.

Brains couldn't help but smile – being in the employment of Jeff Tracy meant that he had to think out of the box on a regular basis. It helped that the resources available were second to none and Jeff's sons were extremely talented pilots and engineers. Over the years he worked with them Brains grew to consider them as family, which made him reluctant to suggest his plan in the first place. He never wanted to deliberately place anyone in danger.

It was Alan who bought into his plan as well as suggesting that the laser cutters on Thunderbird Three be used to go after the asteroids. Jeff had the chance to veto the whole thing but deferred to their judgment in the end. It was a vote of confidence that Brains did not take lightly - now he just had to get Alan and the others to properly follow through on his plan.

With John and the others on Three already at work on their part, it was time to have Alan do his.

Tony left him a legal pad and pen at the computer station with a series of numbers – the last known transmitted coordinates of the Zeta 5 station.

Brains quickly committed them to memory and then made his call to Thunderbird Five. "Brains to Thunderbird Five, c-come in."

When he finally heard Alan's tired voice acknowledging him, Brains was concerned and asked. "A-Alan, are you r-r-ready?"

The reply he heard this time was full of determination. "Let's do this."

* * *

John sat in the copilot seat beside Scott and listened through the communication link to the exchange between Brains and Alan. There wasn't much more for him to do – the changes that Brains needed made to Thunderbird Three were being performed by Gordon and Virgil.

"Alan, have you f-f-finished that last b-b-burn?"

"Yeah Brains – I am ready for the next step – I have visual confirmation of the Zeta 5 space station. What's next?"

"P-p-perform a t-t-two minute burn with the boosters on the a-a-aft side."

Two minutes later, John heard Alan give a confirmation. "Burn complete. Corresponding orbit established with Zeta 5."

"K-k-keep an eye on your h-h-heading. This needs to b-b-be p-precise, otherwise-"

Alan cut Brains off curtly with what sounded like an angry retort. "I know, I know, we'll collide."

"Alan-"

John could hear a tired sigh from Alan. He never heard Alan sound so tired before. "I'm sorry – this heat is getting to me."

He couldn't stay silent. John activated the communication panel and spoke quickly. "Alan, check the repair room near the docking ring once you're done with the shield settings. There should be two space suits in there with internal environmental controls. The systems in them would only be good for an hour a piece, but please use them."

"FAB, John."

* * *

Scott overheard John's conversation with Alan – something about the way he was checking on the situation with Thunderbird Five made him concerned. He turned to John and decided to voice the suspicion he had. "He'll be all right, John."

For his efforts, John did not turn around, but Scott did hear his brother quietly reply with a question. "Are you saying that to reassure me or you?"

"That's not fair-"

"Ask Alan if it's fair that he's trapped on a station that is failing him."

Scott put a hand on John's shoulder. His brother finally turned around and glared at him. "What?"

He stared John down, his grip unrelenting. "I - no - WE need you here. Now. We're all worried for Alan, okay? He has faith in us, otherwise he wouldn't be there now or have performed three rotations on Five already. It was no different when you- you were-"

Memories of the attack on Thunderbird Five ran through Scott's mind. Even though it happened years ago, he could still remember the nervous energy that surrounded their rescue efforts as if it was yesterday. It was no different now but it didn't make it any easier – it still bothered him to bring it up to this very day.

Scott watched as John briefly closed his eyes before giving him a guilty look. "No need to say it, and I'm sorry, Scott. After the attack on Thunderbird Five, it was faith that kept me going until you guys got there. I just hate to see Alan having to go through something like this."

Scott smiled grimly. "He's a Tracy - knowing him, Alan's probably feeling on top of the world right now knowing that he's protecting the Zeta 5 station and ignoring that fact that the busted environmental controls mean that he needs to take it easy. Let's get this job done so that we can check on all of them, okay?"

John nodded. "FAB."

Relieved, Scott let go of his brother's shoulder and turned back to the flight controls. "Speaking of brothers, why don't you prod Gordon and Virgil? They've been at those changes now for close to an hour – we need to get moving."

Scott heard a noise and looked back to find the door to the control room opened. Gordon and Virgil walked in and took their seats behind Scott and John.

"We heard that," Gordon said pointedly, "We're ready though. The changes are done and we have the laser cutting controls routing through the control panel beside Virgil."

"Let's get this going," Virgil added with determination.

"Agreed," John stated before contacting Brains. "Brains from Thunderbird Three. We've made the requested changes and are ready for the heading that will get us in line with those asteroids."

Brains' reply was quick in coming. "A-a-firmative. T-t-transmitting c-c-coordinates now. Target one a-a-asteroid for n-n-now s-s-o we can check the l-levels."

Virgil worked on the information in front of him. "FAB Brains - we have received the coordinates. Feeding you the information now, Scott."

Scott checked his heading and the data Virgil fed to him. "Making adjustments-we're on our way."

* * *

_Thanks for the reviews – I wanted to show brothers being brothers, which means a little bit of worry and emotion along with focusing on the task at hand so that was what this transition was all about. Next chapter? Breaking rocks, Alan finally gets to talk to Zeta 5, and NASA watches and waits. :) _

_Till next time,_

_TimeGuardian_


	9. Chapter 9

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Nine

It seemed like forever, but Alan turned the last switch on a panel that Brains asked him to find. It was no small feat – on the outside Thunderbird Five looked like a simple structure, with one continuous ring with a structure in the middle of it all. After his first rotation with John though, he discovered rooms, nooks, and crannies that he knew that he wanted to explore.

Unfortunately, this particular room was one that was the greatest distance away from the main control room. Alan felt like he had run a marathon by the time he followed Brains directions and found the place, which contained the main control systems for the shields - apparently the changes the scientist wanted were of a type that needed to be done here. _Well, that's done now – time to head back._

He grabbed for the water bottle he had brought with him and took another big swig of water.

Alan wiped his brow, picked up his bottle and headed back to the control room.

* * *

Jeff sat beside Brains in the observatory lab and watched him work.

When he had arrived back at the lab, Brains was just finishing up walking Virgil and Gordon through the changes he wanted to the laser cutting systems on Thunderbird Three. By the time Jeff sat down, he heard the conversation that Brains was having with Alan.

He struggled to keep his objectivity when he heard how tired his son sounded, but Jeff knew that everything that could be done was being done.

It was when Alan transmitted a confirmation that the shields were in place over both Thunderbird Five and Zeta 5 that Jeff finally dared to relax a little.

It was some time after that before Jeff noticed the smell of food and looked up to find that Tony was standing in front of him with a pizza box. "It isn't much with the way our budget is, but I saved a sausage and pepperoni pizza for you two if you want it."

Jeff took the offered box and placed it on an adjacent computer station. "Thank you - any word on the efforts to get a laser up and running?"

Tony grabbed a nearby chair and moved it closer to them before taking a seat. "They're only two hours into it, which means they've picked the spot at Canaveral they want to use and they've drawn up a list of the materials they need. The gears of bureaucracy move on. How are Scott and the others doing?"

Brains turned to face them. "T-t-they just c-c-contacted me – t-t-they're ready to t-t-test."

* * *

Scott slowed Thunderbird Three down as they arrived at the point Brains had determined to be the best to get at the asteroids.

"We are still some distance out," Gordon commented while looking at the view screen showing their progress.

"This is the sun we're talking about. Even without the solar flare activity it would be risky to get any closer," Scott commented before turning to face his brothers. "Okay – let's do this. Virgil, let's blow some rocks up."

Virgil nodded before turning to the control panel near him. "FAB, I'm bringing the laser system online now."

* * *

Alan walked back into the control room after stopping off to refill his water bottle. He dumped near his chair the two spacesuits that John told him to pick up earlier. _I hope I don't have to use these but it couldn't hurt to have them handy._

As he sat back down, he noted that the Zeta 5 space station was fully in view from the window. Unlike Thunderbird Five, Zeta 5 was comprised of five cylindrical structures interconnected by one long rectangular structure.

It was then that a surprising transmission came through. "International Rescue, this is space station Zeta 5. How do you read us?"

Alan reasoned that Five's shielding must be preventing interference with close communications. He quickly moved to reply. "Zeta 5, this is International Rescue on Thunderbird Five. It's good to hear your full voices finally."

He recognized the voice that came through as the female astronaut who had tried to send out the initial distress call. "We could say the same thing about you. I take it you're the one in the other space station then. Thank you for sharing your shields with us."

Alan smiled. "You're welcome. So what's your status?"

"Our crew has been rerouting power like mad trying to keep up essential systems. It took a toll on our boosters and shields though. However by some mad stroke of luck, we've managed to maintain our orbit."

That was good to hear – he knew that if he had to make any major course changes now, it would risk the protection of the shields for both of them. "Good to hear. What do you know of the situation?"

Alan could hear the frustration in the astronaut's voice as she replied. "Only that the sun has been spitting out a high level of solar flares. We were trying to get readings on what was going on when the shields decided to try and cut out on us. It's been a mad scramble ever since."

He sighed and mopped his brow. "Let me get you up to speed then."

After Alan finished explaining what was happening and the efforts being taken to address the problem, he heard the astronaut reply in sympathy. "So your space station is not doing well either? I don't like being a hostage to the sun. Some of my mates here tried to do outside repairs to the station with the unfortunate effect of nearly being done in by the heat. Are you sure that your people can get at those asteroids?"

Alan cast a glance back out the window into space. He accomplished what he could to ensure that his brothers would have time to succeed. There was no doubt in his mind whatsoever. "Absolutely."

* * *

It was nearly three minutes before Virgil looked up from his controls. "Laser cutting system is fully charged and now online. Acquiring target."

A side profile of the sun came up on their computer view screen, along with dots of various sizes indicating the asteroids that were grouped around it. A bright red circle then appeared around one of the dots.

"Target acquired – charging and firing," Virgil stated.

They all watched as they saw a line of light representing their laser head towards the target and reach it, but then quickly disappeared.

It was nearly another minute before Gordon broke the tense silence. "So? Did we hit it or not?"

Virgil looked at the feedback provided from the panel before growling in frustration. "We hit it, but it didn't break apart at all."

John shook his head. He left a communication transmission open so Brains could hear the effort. "Did you hear that Brains?"

Brains' voice came through quickly. "Y-y-yes - you'll need to get c-c-closer then while I c-c-calculate further a-adjustments. Remain on your c-c-current heading and a-a-adjust your d-distance by f-f-fifty t-t-thousand kilometers."

"That'll take us closer to the sun," Gordon quietly stated.

Without hesitation, Scott acknowledged Brains' request. "FAB. Hold on guys, things are about to get hotter around here."

* * *

_Obvious pun alert – the heat is on. Sorry, couldn't resist - I'll flee now, more soon. ;)_

_Till Next Time,_

_TimeGuardian_


	10. Chapter 10

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Ten

After giving Thunderbird Three the revised orders, Brains sat back in his chair and took a breath – he had to think, to recalculate.

"Brains?"

Brains held up a hand to cut off Jeff's question, knowing that his employer had heard the whole conversation. Numbers and coordinates ran through Brains' head at a furious rate. He couldn't afford to be interrupted right now - they were so close to a solution.

Sitting back up, he attacked the computer with renewed energy, feeding in the figures that he had in mind. Unknowingly, he began thinking out loud. "The c-c-changes s-s-should have increased t-t-the s-s-strength-"

Jeff's voice broke into his thoughts once more. "Should have? Brains, is this going to work or not?"

A flash of frustration went through Brains as he turned around and snapped. "Give me a moment!"

He immediately regretted the outburst as Jeff shrank back from him.

"S-s-sorry. W-w-we're c-c-close. I need to r-re-f-figure s-s-some calculations," Brains muttered as he turned back to the computer.

* * *

After Alan left instructions with the Zeta 5 station to do a station wide systems check, he began another one of Thunderbird Five. The last check he managed to finish was before Brains had him doing the course changes and shield work.

He systematically and carefully made his way around the control room, checking readouts from the panels as he went through the process. The environmental controls still were unresponsive despite his efforts, the boosters were still functional, the lights were touch and go until he rerouted power to them during the last system check, and the life support systems –

Alan frowned as he stopped in front of the panel that gave him readings on the oxygen levels inside the station as well as hull integrity. He tapped at the panel and tried a few other things, but there was no denying it – the life support systems were acting up now. Alan couldn't get a clear read on the oxygen levels inside the station and there were no readings as far as the hull integrity.

_No, no, no!_

He looked back at the space suits piled up near his chair and debated whether or not to tell John about this latest development. His brothers had enough to worry about as it was, but Alan also knew that John entrusted him with Thunderbird Five – he couldn't let him down.

* * *

John sat back in his chair listening to Gordon and Virgil arguing about their current position when he heard Alan's transmission come through. He thought it strange when Alan requested to speak to him alone, but didn't question it. He quickly got out of his chair and ignoring Scott's protests, exited the control room.

Moments later, he stalked into the computer room and sat down in front of the communication panel. After making the necessary settings, John spoke quickly. "Okay Alan, we're alone on a secure channel. You picked a devil of a time to want a chat."

He heard Alan's tired laugh. "Oh this is business, believe me."

John listened as his brother explained how Zeta 5 made contact with him and their current status, along with the problem with the life support system. When Alan finished, he shook his head in amazement. "Things just keep getting better, don't they? I have an idea for you to try to get that panel up. Now listen well-"

The next half hour was spent exchanging information between them, along with Alan making the repairs that John suggested. Finally John heard Alan exclaim. "Thanks, John– I'm getting readings back from the panel finally. I was not looking forward to getting into one of these space suits just yet. It's hot enough around here as is with the lack of environmental controls."

Thoughts of the conditions on Five plagued him, and John couldn't quite keep the guilt out of his voice. "I'm sorry you have to go through this, Alan."

"Don't be," Alan replied simply, "you've taught me enough to get me this far. I'll keep Thunderbird Five as intact as I can - just get me and Zeta 5 out of this mess, and we'll call it even. Deal?"

John smiled – Alan's reassurance was just what he needed to hear. "Thanks, Alan, and it's a deal. John out."

He closed the communication channel and left the computer room. By the time John got back to the control room he heard Virgil tell Scott that they were ready to try again.

He edged around his brothers until he got back into the seat he had vacated earlier. "Brains got us new data, Scott?"

"Yeah, he transmitted what we needed and we just finished up the new changes about five minutes ago," Scott replied, "everything okay with Alan?"

"As can be expected," John replied. "He's also heard from Zeta 5 – they have no boosters and they are totally reliant on Five's shields right now. We need to get this going."

Scott turned to Virgil. "You heard the man, let's try this again."

Virgil turned to his panel. "FAB."

* * *

Brains listened intently to the transmission as he heard Virgil targeting an asteroid and firing upon it.

He was confident – with the changes and the shorter distance, it WOULD work. It was the waiting that was the stressful part.

Like the previous test, there was nearly two minutes of silence as they waited as if time was on their side. Brains knew it wasn't, but they had little choice in the matter.

It was another minute before he finally heard the words from John that he was waiting on. "Brains, test was successful – asteroid confirmed as destroyed. Are we authorized to continue?"

Relieved, the scientist smiled and turned to look at Jeff before giving Thunderbird Three the go ahead. "FAB, John. P-p-please p-p-proceed."

* * *

Alan was feeling very strange – he didn't seem to be sweating anymore. It still seemed to be extremely hot around him, but it didn't seem to be affecting him as much.

He got to his feet, intent on heading towards the showers when a wave of dizziness and nausea set in. He held the back of the chair in a death grip and closed his eyes.

Moments later Alan opened his eyes, willing the control room to come back into focus. The hot air was continuing to make it difficult to breathe, but the nausea seemed to be leveling off for the moment.

Alan let go of the chair and slowly staggered his way to the showers.

* * *

_Next up? Thunderbird Three has a lot of work to do and Alan fights on against the heat._

_Till Next Time,_

_TimeGuardian_


	11. Chapter 11

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Eleven

An hour later when Tony Nelson received a visit to his office from a messenger, he walked outside the building with the messenger to read the note that had been presented to him.

It was a status report from Cape Canaveral – the effort to bring a laser there online officially hit a brick wall. The people there had to scrounge as far as Germany and Switzerland to get the necessary parts they needed and they were being shipped via overnight jet. _Still too long_.

"Sir?" The messenger spoke up from where he was waiting beside him. "Is there a return message?"

"Tell them to continue their efforts," Tony stated, "please bring me any updates to the observatory lab."

"Yes sir."

When the messenger walked off, Tony walked back towards the lab building. Once he reentered the observatory lab, he headed back to the corner where Jeff and Brains were. When he sat back down in the seat he had used earlier, Tony noted that Jeff and Brains barely even moved from when he last saw them, though he did notice that about half of the pizza that he left them had been consumed.

Jeff looked over at him. "I can see it on your face – more delays?"

Tony chuckled before giving him a serious look. "Dad said you had an annoying tendency of reading people. The laser effort is awaiting part shipments from Europe. It looks like the fate of those astronauts is firmly in the hands of International Rescue."

"So it is," Jeff acknowledged before looking back at Brains, who was intensely concentrating on the computer. "But now it is down to getting rid of those blasted asteroids, and that takes time. It's the waiting that is the hardest part."

Tony sat back in his chair without saying another word. He could see the dark circles under Jeff's eyes along with the start of dark stubble on his cheeks. From what his father told him, Tony knew that Jeff would not leave a situation like this now, even if he was ordered to.

Of course Tony wasn't going to leave either. It would piss off the government bigwigs that were probably calling his office demanding status updates, but if he or NASA could be of any help to International Rescue, he was determined to give it.

* * *

The waiting was getting to Scott. He called out over his shoulder. "Virgil, what's your status?"

On the computer view screen, the amount of dots they were seeing around the sun seemed to be going down, but they had been at this for an hour already.

"You can see it as well as I can," Virgil replied testily. "Scanners show at least two dozen of the asteroids left. We've been lucky in some aspects – I've been able to line up some multi-shots but aiming and charging the laser system takes time."

"Not much else we can do then. Keep it up Virgil, and keep an eye on our heat levels, guys," Scott warned. "The last thing we need is for our environmental controls to go too."

"I've been keeping an eye on them," John acknowledged. "Environmental controls are holding steady for the moment."

"Good," replied Scott as he turned back to the flight controls. He read the coordinates for the twentieth time in an hour – Thunderbird Three was still on the proper course heading to take on the asteroids. There was nothing else to do but wait for results.

_I hate waiting_.

* * *

Alan braced himself against the walls of the shower as he felt the water splash over him. At least he could still feel the water – his body hadn't given up on him yet.

He had to keep his mind as active as possible, even if he had to keep his movements down to a minimum.

Alan recalled everything he could about the station that John had taught him – from the amount of rooms containing supplies right down to the administrator password that would allow him to access the controls of the reactor power source in cases of emergency. It was slow goings, but the focus seemed to help as he shut off the water and grabbed for his clothes. He didn't even bother to dry off this time, hoping that the water would help wick away some of the heat from his body.

As he walked out of the shower area, the overhead lights began to flicker. It worried Alan, because so far the only malfunctions he had seen were centered in the control room.

He started walking a little faster – he neglected to check the timers before he left the control room, so there was no way of knowing how long he had been away.

A klaxon alarm then started blaring throughout the station. Swearing, Alan took off in a run back to the control room.

He arrived back in the control room out of breath. A quick look at the time and Alan realized that a little over an hour had passed since he had left. He kept to the procedure John taught him – when a klaxon sounded, check your systems immediately.

_They haven't changed – everything looks like when I left it. Wait a minute – something looks out of the ordinary with the shields. These power levels look strange._

Alan double checked the shield systems – they seemed to have doubled their output from when he last adjusted them to allow for the protection of the Zeta 5 station. This didn't look good, if Thunderbird Five had to make more of an effort to protect both stations and the other systems on Five were like he left them, that meant –

A sinking feeling grabbed at Alan as he sat down to try and hail Zeta 5. "Zeta 5 from Thunderbird Five – what's your status?"

Silence – there was no signs of any return transmissions. The sinking feeling gnawed at his gut as Alan tried transmitting again. "Zeta 5 space station from Thunderbird Five – do you read me?"

He waited nearly five minutes but again, there was nothing.

Alan changed tactics and went to his scanners – they were still functional and from what he could tell, the other space station had not broken the orbit that he had found them in. The scanners also didn't note anything else out of the ordinary. That didn't make him feel any better – any possible problems that Zeta 5 might be having could be happening on the inside.

Reluctantly he made a new transmission. "Thunderbird Three from Thunderbird Five – if there was ever a time to hurry, guys, it would be now. I've lost contact with the Zeta 5 space station."

* * *

_Enjoy the fruits of being shuttered in for the weekend with a miserable cold. Thankfully the Muse and imagination trumps boredom every time._

_Also one side note, since the question has come up: I don't do deathfics. Tension, yes. Action, yes. Cliffhangers? Decidedly so. Death? Nope._

_Till Next Time,_

_TimeGuardian_


	12. Chapter 12

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Twelve

On board Thunderbird Three, John kept a communication channel open in case either Alan or their dad needed to reach them. When he heard Alan's transmission, John looked around at Scott, Virgil, and Gordon.

The mood was grim and the waiting was tense. They were nearing their second hour in clearing out the asteroids that were colliding with the sun and causing massive solar flares, and John could tell that Alan's update wasn't sitting well with any of them.

He moved to transmit a reply. "Hang tough, Alan. Keep trying to reach them. Also keep those space suits handy. We're knocking these asteroids out as fast as we can. John out."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find that Scott was giving him a sympathetic look. "We'll get to them in time."

"We're almost done - we're down to a dozen asteroids," Virgil declared.

"Keep on it," Scott ordered. "We've got to get to those astronauts."

* * *

Alan kept trying to transmit to the Zeta 5 space station. "Zeta 5 from Thunderbird Five, please respond."

Close to an hour had already passed since he started trying to reach them. Alan was worried for them – since he started doing rotations on Thunderbird Five, it was rare to see emergencies in space. For all of their effort to be reduced to this – it was something that he didn't want to think about.

Finally, he started hearing a reply to his transmission. It was muffled, but it was definitely the same contact he talked to earlier. "Zeta 5 receiving you, Thunderbird Five, go ahead."

Alan released the breath he had been holding and replied. "You guys had me worried. We've tried to reach you for close to an hour now - what happened to you?"

"Give me a moment – I just finished a space walk to gauge all of our damage and I need to get this suit off."

Alan waited as he heard the sounds of the astronaut shedding her space suit. It was nearly five minutes before she continued. "The flares seem to be leveling off thankfully – that last walk wasn't as hot as the earlier one we tried. We lost hull integrity in two of our outer modules. We tried for repairs but it became too big of a job along with trying to hasten the failures with the rest of our station. We have moved to the modules closer to our power source and have secured the inner modules as best we could against damage. It's a tight fit, but we have breathable cool air at least."

_It's better than what I have for the moment_, Alan thought wryly as he advised them to sit tight and keep an eye on their resources.

Once he disconnected from them, Alan moved to make another system check when another wave of nausea hit him hard. Unlike last time when he was able to ride it out, things happened too fast and before Alan knew it the entire contents of his stomach came up hard and ended up on the floor near him.

When he was finally reduced to dry heaves, Alan looked at the mess on the floor. _Damn, John is going to be mad at me_.

With a shuddering breath that left him dizzy, he looked down at the space suits beside his chair. _I guess it's time to get in one of those things_.

* * *

The computer view screen keeping track of their asteroid progress was showing promise. The dots showing the asteroids disappeared quickly, until finally none could be seen around the area of the sun.

Scott looked around at Virgil. "Make one last scan – let's make sure we are done."

"FAB," Virgil stated as he concentrated over the panel for nearly ten minutes before looking up and declaring, "Okay, we're done – let's get out of here."

The noise roused Gordon from his reverie. "We're done?"

Virgil nodded. "Confirmed. All of the asteroids in the vicinity of the sun's orbit are destroyed. According to the readings we may see some residual flare activity, but it should drop down to normal levels in two hours time."

Scott nodded. "Just the words I've been waiting to hear - changing course now. Update the others, John."

"FAB," John replied before transmitting the update. "Thunderbird Three to NASA and Thunderbird Five, the first part of our mission is accomplished. Flare activity should return to normal levels in approximately two hours. We are now en route to the Zeta 5 space station."

Brains voice came through first, "U-u-understood, Thunderbird Three. G-g-good job."

Alan's voice came through tired and muffled as he replied as well. "I knew you guys could do it. I heard from the Zeta 5 astronauts and they are okay for the moment – they had to shut out some parts of their station that suffered hull integrity issues, and that's why they were slow in replying."

"Alan – you've been keeping up your systems checks?" John asked.

"Yeah, John. With the exception of the environmental controls, everything else has stayed online."

John knew from the muffled tone of his transmission that Alan had to resort to using one of the space suits – he just hoped that his stubborn brother would stay put now that the main threat was over. "Good. Relax, and we'll be there soon enough – Thunderbird Three out."

* * *

_A short one, but I am jumping back into this slowly after an arthritis flare and the most evil cold in history - ugh._

_Till next time,_

_TimeGuardian_


	13. Chapter 13

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Chapter Thirteen

Brains turned around in his chair to face Jeff and Tony. "Asteroids d-d-destroyed."

Tony leaned forward in his chair. "Good. I'll update my people – when do they think that the flares will die down?"

"I-I-In less t-t-than t-t-two hours."

Tony then looked over at Jeff. "I'm overdue for an update to my superiors as is."

Jeff nodded. "Go. I need to stay and can brief you when you get back."

The NASA director gave both of them a grateful glance before he got to his feet and exited the lab.

Jeff turned to Brains. "What's Thunderbird Three's ETA to Zeta 5 and Thunderbird Five?"

"With t-t-their current p-p-position, t-t-they will reach t-t-their orbit in about one p-p-p-oint five h-h-hours."

"That's cutting it fine," Jeff muttered. "With the environmental controls on Five inoperative and the flare activity taking a while to level off, Alan is going to be feeling the heat. Maybe we should contact him again."

"With all due r-r-respect, Jeff," Brains protested, "Thunderbird Five's systems are t-t-t-axed by t-t-this heat. T-T-Things are s-s-stable f-f-or now, and John ordered h-h-him to grab the available s-s-space s-s-suits on b-b-board."

"So what you're saying is that we shouldn't add to this unless Alan communicates with us directly."

When Brains nodded simply in reply, Jeff sat back in his chair. He felt like an armchair quarterback on game day, but he knew that Brains and the rest of his sons had things well in hand.

"There are supplies on Thunderbird Three that can help them treat heat exhaustion, right?"

Brains nodded at Jeff's new question before turning back to the computer in front of him.

Jeff grew silent as he sank back into his chair and reluctantly settled in to wait.

* * *

_One hour later –_

The computer view screen on Thunderbird Three showed their orbital path as they were nearing space station Zeta 5. Scott was tamping down a case of nerves as he worked with the maneuvering thrusters to get them closer. "Okay, we are in position – we just need a way to dock with them."

"So how are we going to dock with the Zeta 5 station?" Gordon asked.

"Good question," John pondered as he looked up at the computer view screen. "Think we're close enough to establish contact, Scott?"

"Our time is tight," Scott declared, "give it a try, John."

Scott watched as John attempted a transmission to the Zeta 5 station. They soon heard a quick reply.

"Zeta 5 here, Thunderbird Three, and you are a very welcome sight indeed. We are ready to vacate this place and get back on Earth away from this heat. Just tell us what you need from us."

"Guide us in for a rendezvous, Zeta 5," Scott requested. "As soon as we dock with you, three of our men will board and help you and your people board our craft."

Their contact provided concise instructions and soon Scott had Thunderbird Three maneuvered right beside one of the innermost modules of the station. Moments later, a tube extended out from the station and touched up against Thunderbird Three.

Scott turned to his brothers. "Go help them evacuate and get them safely on board."

Gordon, Virgil, and John each nodded in turn and left the control room. Scott knew it would take them a few moments a piece to get into space suits and secure the tube from the station to their craft before boarding. He adjusted the communication settings so he could listen in on them through the built in communicators that were in the suits they were putting on.

He listened intently as they confirmed their hookup with the station. In subsequent order, they confirmed their contact with the astronauts and then their return to Thunderbird Three.

Minutes seemed like hours as he waited impatiently for confirmation that everything was secure.

Finally Scott received the confirmation that he was waiting on when he heard a transmission from Virgil. "Control room from medical bay – the Zeta 5 astronauts are now secured and under emergency treatment for dehydration and heat exhaustion. Gordon and John are on their way back up to you now – I'll strap in down here to keep them monitored."

"FAB Virgil," Scott acknowledged as he fed in the coordinates to Thunderbird Five.

Moments later Gordon and John rushed into the control room, quickly taking their seats.

"Step on it," Gordon demanded, "let's get Alan out of there."

Scott glared at him. "I know that tone – what's wrong?"

It was John that answered him. "I tried sending a message to Alan to let him know that we are on our way, but we never got a reply from him. I tried for nearly ten minutes while Gordon and Virgil were getting the astronauts settled in."

Scott turned back to his controls. "Thankfully docking with Thunderbird Five is automatic and computerized. We're on our way then, hold on."

* * *

Alan felt like he was floating.

No wait, that didn't sound right, the gravitational controls were operational the last time he checked them. The last thing he remembered was that he got into one of the space suits, made an alteration to the other to jack in the extra power from its environmental controls, and then settled in to hear that his brothers had successfully evacuated the astronauts from Zeta 5. Mission accomplished.

Finally, this nightmare would be over soon and he would be out of this heat.

That wasn't right either – Alan knew the environmental system in the suit was working, he could feel air blowing but he wasn't cooling off at all. _I'm in trouble._

He tried to get to his feet - maybe if he could make it back to the shower…

The ground swayed violently under him. Before Alan could react, he found himself face first on the ground. He didn't even feel himself fall, and that was when Alan realized that he couldn't stand up right now even if he wanted to.

_Hurry guys, I'm in trouble here.  
_

* * *

_Alan knows he's in trouble - heat exhaustion/stroke is no joke. There's one last rescue coming up with the last chapter. It's nearly done, folks, and the cold is gone as well. :) _

_till Next Time,_

_TimeGuardian_


	14. Chapter 14

_Be Careful What You Wish For  
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic  
by TimeGuardian_

Final Chapter

Alan struggled to hang on to consciousness. His thoughts were badly fragmented – all he could seem to focus on was how hot and dry he felt. _I wonder if Scott felt this way when he got heat stroke._

He wasn't even sure how long he had been laying there on the floor of the Thunderbird Five control room. For all the effort Alan put into trying to get up, all he managed to do was go from lying face down to where he was now on his back, staring at the ceiling.

His brothers would come for him – there was no doubt in that, but the waiting was getting old. More than once Alan heard voices and hoped that his brothers had already boarded Five, but it turned out that he was hearing the transmissions from the communication panel. The voices that came from it were frantic, but he could not make any sense of them.

Shadows and shapes danced along the ceiling before his eyes, none of which was making any sense. Alan closed his eyes to get away from the hallucinations and to ease the nausea he was feeling.

Soon Alan started hearing voices again. He was sure they were voices and they were not coming through the communication link either. _Am I dreaming_?

No, the voices were now surrounding him and Alan recognized them immediately – his brothers were there for him.

_I'm safe now_.

He finally let go, allowing himself to slip into darkness.

* * *

Time seemed to slow to a crawl, and Brains stared the computer down as if that would be enough to will the transmission they were waiting for. It was nearing a little over two hours since they heard from Thunderbird Three.

He heard a noise from behind him and looked up to find that Tony had returned to the lab.

"So what's the latest update?" Tony asked.

Brains was getting ready to answer him when a transmission came through. "NASA from Thunderbird Three – we have evacuated the personnel from Zeta 5 and Thunderbird Five successfully and are providing emergency treatment to them while we head back."

Smiling, Brains looked around at Jeff and Tony before acknowledging the transmission. "C-c-confirmed, Thunderbird Three. W-w-w-e'll see you at h-h-ome."

Jeff smiled for the first time in hours. "They did it."

Tony grinned and moved to pat him on the shoulder. "I'm going to recommend that International Rescue get a Presidential commendation."

Jeff shook his head tiredly. "That's not necessary. What I need now is to fly home so I can see my family, especially Alan."

Tony checked his watch. "Look Jeff, far be it from me to order you around but we all have been going nonstop for close to twenty four hours now. I would be doing you a disservice if I allow either of you to fly home tired and I know full well that you flew your personal jet here. I have room at my place – come back with me, have dinner, and you two can crash for a couple of hours before jetting back home."

As if to drive the point home, Brains stretched and yawned. "W-w-we c-c-can s-s-still beat t-t-them h-h-home if w-w-we do it."

Jeff laughed. "I know when I am outnumbered. Okay Tony, we'll take you up on your offer. Let's go."

* * *

In the main medical bay on Thunderbird Three, John sat beside the shallow tank full of cooling gel and watched his brother Alan floating right in the middle of it.

The gel itself was the product of collaboration between Kyrano and Brains. They mixed together a combination of tropical plants and herbs and combined them with a binding gel that would provide cooling relief for burns and fevers.

In the adjoining medical bay, the Zeta 5 astronauts responded to packs of gel being placed around them to cool them down. However, Alan's body temperature stayed dangerously high, so John and Virgil decided to place Alan in a tank of the gel so that he would be completely enveloped with the exception of his face to try and force an overall cool down of his body temperature.

They were ten hours into their flight back home when John volunteered to relieve Virgil and watch over the Zeta 5 astronauts and Alan. He finished his checks with the astronauts nearly an hour ago, so he resigned himself to staying by his brother's side until time for reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.

The thing was, Alan had not awakened yet and that was worrying him.

John sat back and sighed. "Ah, Alan. I wish you didn't have to be in there. Riding back in the medical bay is not so fun – take it from someone who knows."

He got to his feet and walked closer to the tank. "And yet, I still come back up here. I feel at home in space – stars twinkle, planets move, things simply happen. It's more exciting than you think. Take what happened today with those asteroids for example. It's that sense of adventure and the unknown that keeps me coming back, but you know what? I also look forward to coming home to my family and talking with you whether on Earth or on Five. Who else would I be able to have late night conversations with when everyone else is asleep?"

When John looked down at the tank, he was more than surprised to see that Alan's eyes were finally open.

"Well, well - welcome back, Alan," John murmured as he smiled in relief. "Take it easy and let me check your temperature."

Leaning in, he took Alan's pulse and accessed a temperature sensor that had been placed on Alan's forehead. _Pulse normal and temperature is out of the danger zone – best news I've had all day._

He heard a raspy noise and stood back up to find that Alan was trying to talk. John chuckled slightly and placed a hand on his brother's arm. "Whoa Alan, don't try to talk just yet. You get to listen only, for once. Thanks to your help, we were able to keep Thunderbird Five and the Zeta Five space stations safe. We've managed to evacuate you and the members of the Zeta 5 space station here to Thunderbird Three."

John watched Alan give him a look of confusion before continuing. "We found you unconscious on the main deck – the environmental controls were too far gone, but our laser systems managed to get the last of the asteroids before they could collide with the sun. The solar flares have already subsided, but we had to get you off of there – your temperature was way too high. That is why you are in this cooling gel bath. The Zeta 5 astronauts are getting a similar treatment in the next medical bay over. Of course both space stations will need major repairs, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it."

He then brushed a strand of hair out of Alan's eyes. "In short, thanks for keeping yourself and Thunderbird Five in relatively one piece."

A little smile crept up on Alan's face before he mouthed five words to John: _I had a good teacher. _

_The End  
_

* * *

_And, it's done. I would like to thank my readers and reviewers for following me through this crazy idea and putting up with the earworms I gave you (yes, I do have some 'heat' music on my iTunes playlist now). I do have a mystery related idea percolating involving Lady Penelope and IR, but I have a few things to work out first. _

_Until then,_

_TimeGuardian_


End file.
